Adjustable door mechanism



May 15, 1928.

1.6691152 s. H. HEMPHILL ADJUSTABLE DOOR IIEGHANISI Filed May 15, 1925 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Patented May 15, 1928.

@U D STATES 1,669,752 PATENT OFFICE.

STEWART H. HEKPHILL, OF NEW YORK, N. Y.,.ASSIGI\TOR- o GRANT ELEVATOR EQUIPMENT CORPORATION, or ew YORK, N.Y., A ooRronA IoN or New YORK.

ADJUSTABLE noon MEoHA NrsM.

Application filed May 15, 1925. Serial No. 30.529.

This invention relates todoor'mechanism and more particularly to door operating mechanism having features of fine adjustment for doors of the multi-speed type, ineluding a plurality of doors or sectionsprovided at a single door opening, one. or more of said sections at the distant side of the door Opening being required to travel a greater distance than an adjacent inner door or section in the same interval of time, these doors or sections being commonly referred to as Ffast and slow, respectively.

Doors of this type are provided at'floor landings communicating -with elevator shaft-ways, but are capable of general application Wherever desirable. The door openings at floor landings and the door mechanism supports provided at the shaft side, in elevator installations, are usually 10- so cated according to the architects specifications,but slightv'ariations in the width of the door opening, as well as in the distance between the side of the door opening and the door mechanism "support are apt to frea's quently occur, so that aset of doorsand operating mechanism furnishedfor specified conditions may be found to operate improperly when installed. -It is commercially impracticable to economically design each set so of door operatingmechanism for an individual door opening, audit is desirable that the door mechanisms be uniformly constructed for quantity I production, and equipped with means totake care of such 3 slight adjustments as may be found necessary when installing the door equipment.

The 'fast' and slow doors may be connected by a plurality of links. One link may be ivoted at one of its ends to the outer in or fast door, and this link may have'its opposite end pivoted to the end of a somewhat longer link pivotally mounted on the inner or slow door, this slowv door link having its opposite end pivoted to a door closer arm 4.") or link which is in turn pivotally mounted on the door mechanism support.

The slow door link may be provided with a handle which, when operated, will break the linkage and on being drawn away from the door opening will cause the doors or sections to open, the fast door moving behind the slow door untilthe fast and slow doors are substantially insuperimposed relation, in which condition. the door opening 'shoul 551 be fully exposed. The doors may be caused the return and prevent the ring or slamming.

limit "of their travel.

to'return automatically to closed position by a suitable] closer device, preferably equipped with checking means to cushion doors from jarlVhen the doors and door operatingmechanlsm have been installed it may be 'found that due to a variation in the distance betweenthe door mechanism support and'the distant end of the door opening, it is necessary to shift the doors and door mechanism bodily so that the doors will coincide with the door opening when at the outer To this end the door mechanism support may be provided with means to locate the door mechanism at different spaced locations relative to the support. Such means may comprise suitable brackets or bolts mounted on the support and provided" with spacing devices between the support and the rear portion or back plate of the door'closer arm. These brackets or bolts must of'necessity be of considerable length to afford a suitable range of adjustment, and when the entire length thereof is not availed of the projectingends areapt to interfere with the moving parts of the door mechanism and :nrust be removed. Also, with devices heretofore used'it has not been possible to obtain fine adjustment; or even a properadjustment without considerable diflicultyf and in order to obtain the latter it hasbeen necessary to displace the door mechanism in a set and try fashion; To obviate these difficulties, it is a'feature ofthisinvention to equip the door mechanism with a finely "adji1stable and rigid supporting means, and to this end these may be provided'with a pluralconnecting devices at least one of which ity of consist or a right and left threaded may belt or screw threaded into the support,

which constitutes a fixed bearing, and into ,the door closer mechanism, which constitutes a movablebearing, said screw preferably'having a portion accessible formad screw or screws, and the pitch of the threaded portions thereof may be such that the ing against the bracket.

major portions of these screws are at all times behind the back plate, with the innermost ends of the screws capable of projection through the far side of the support for a distance determined by the relative pitch of the threaded screw portions. The screws are thus not liable to interfere with any moving part of the door mechanism, and they afford a line, bodily movable, adjustment so that the door mechanism may be quickly adjusted to a nicety without the necessity of resorting to set and try methods.

The support, which is usually a wall plate provided by the builder, instead of having threaded apertures to receive the right and left threaded screws, may have plain openings. of suitable diameter therein. It is a further feature of the present invention to equip the door closer arm or its back plate with an auxiliary support secured to the wall plate so that the screws threaded through the auxiliary support may extend through the openings in the wall plate, the wall plate and auxiliary support when thus secured together constituting a unitary support having additional features of advantage.

The slow door may be provided with a bracket having a pivotal mounting for the slow door link of the door operating mechanism, this bracket being spaced from the slow door so that the fast door, in fully open position, may be received within the arm of the bracket, but without engaging or strik- When the doors and operating mechanism have been located as described above to correspond with the door opening, it may be found that due to the altered distance between the side of the door opening and the point of pivotal connection of the door closer arm at its supported end, the door mechanism will not operate properly, the doors being incapable of attaining a fully open position. The changed conditions brought about in the relationship of the links may cause a heavy strain to be placed upon the slow door bracket, eventually resulting in breakage; or, the doors may completely overlie one another without the door opening being fully exposed. it is a further feature of the invention to finely adjust the length of the door closer arm to produce the proper rela tionship of the links, so that the doors will open to fully expose the door opening without any liability of undue strain being put upon any of the parts.

In the accompanying drawings,

Figure 1 is an elevation of the shaft side of a door opening, showing fast and slow doors equipped with the present adjustable door mechanism;

Figure 2 is a diagrammatic top plan view of the doors and operating mechanism shown in Figure 1;

Figure 3 is a partial side view of one form of the invention showing the auxiliary plate;

Figure 4 is an enlarged detail side view of a door closer arm and adjustable back plate like that illustrated in Figure 1, also showing the adjustable door closer arm link;

Figure 5 is a top plan view of the door closer arm shown in Figure 4;

Figure 6 is a transverse sectional view through the door closer arm, taken on the line 66 of Figure 4; and

Figure 7 is a perspective view of the end of one modification of the door closer arm link illustrative of the adjustment feature of this link.

Referring to Figures 1, 2, and 4 to 7, the door opening 10 is adapted to he closed by the overlapping fast and slow doors l1 and 12- respectively, the slow door 12 being in this instance suspended from and adapted to travel freely along its track 1 by means of the slide 14. A. track 15 mounted on the slide 14 supports a slide 16 for the fast door 11, and the doors 11 and 12 are equipped with adjustable suspension devices 17 for proper height location. The fast door 11 in this instance has a bar 18 fixed thereto, and an operating link 19 pivoted at 20 to the bar 18, but the link 19 may be pivoted directly to the door 11 if desired. The slow door 12 has a bracket 21 secured at its inner edge and outstanding from the rearward side of the door, and a second link of greater length than the link 19 is pivoted about mid-way of itsilcngth to the slow door bracket 21, as seen at 523. One end of the link 22 is pivoted to the end of the fast door operating link .19, as indicated at 2 1, and the opposite end of the link 22 is pivoted to the door closer arm link 25, as indicated at 26, the door chm-r arm link :25 being secured to the door closer arm .27, and the latter, in turn, being pivotally mounted on its back plate 28 as indicated at 29. The back plate 28 is adjustably secured to the wall plate or support 30 by a plurality of screw devices 31 having right hand threaded portions 32 (see Figures 4 and 5) lifting threaded apertures 33 provided in the wall plate (l0, and left hand threaded portions ill fitting correspondingly threaded apertures 35 provided in the door closer arm back plate 28.

The double screw threaded members 31. in this instance have central angular body portions 36 located between the wall plate 30 and back plate 28, so that one or both of the members 31 may be readily turned by a wrench or other tool to gradually shift the entire door mechanism bodily in a continuous movement toward or from the support 30, but any equivalent means may be provided for rotating the devices 31. Suitable lock nuts 37 may be provided to secure the memllll hers 31 in adjusted position against dislodgment, and though shown in engagement with one side of the back plate 28,;may be provided at the wall plate or support as well A suitable operating handle 38 provided on the slow door link 22 breaks the linkage and opens the doors 11 and 12, the link 22 swinging about its pivot point 23 and the door closer arm 27 swinging upon the pivot 29 as seenindotted lines in Figure 1. A suitable closer and check device 39 mounted on the wall plate 30 by means of a bracket 40, and having a reciprocating plunger rod 41 influenced by suitable pressure means within the closer and check 39, is connected to the door closer arm 27 as seen at 42 and draws upon the door closer arm 27 to auto matically return the several links to straightened condition and close the doors when the handle 38 is released. The closer and check device 39 while in this instance secured directly to the wall plate 30, may also be equipped with the double threaded adjusting devices, but I have found this latter in mostcases to be unnecessary as the slight adjustment of the door closer arm relative to its support which may be necessary does not ordinarily have any appreciable effect on the operation of the closer and check.

As seen in Figure 3, the devices 31 may be threaded through correspondingly threadedapertures 43 inthe auxiliary plate or support 44:, the auxiliary plate 44 being secured to the wall plate 30 by screws 45 or other suitable means, andthe wall plate 30 having plain openings 46 of suitable diameter to permit the innermostportions of the devices 31 to extend thereinto and beyond itnecessary. The auxiliary plate or support 44 ma be of any desired thickness and is utiliza le as a spacer-toatford a degree of coarse adjustment in addition to the line adjustment aiforded by thedevices 31.

The screw devices 31 areremovable and separate from the support 30, and of any desired length or pitch, sothat the installer,

provided with a supply of devices of different size, is enabled to take care of practically any condition encountered at any door opening of a building. a

To prevent the fast door from slamming against the slow door bracket 21., or the imposition of any undue strain upon the bracket 21 at the pivotpoint or uponany of the other link pivots, which maybe due toimproper relation of the door operating linkage resulting from a change in the distance between thepivot point 29 and the side of the door opening, or other causes, the door closer armlink 25 in this instance is adjustable in length with relation to the pivot point 29 of the door closer arm27.

The door closer arm 27 has a groove or recess .47 formed atone of its sides to receive the end portion of the link 25 in telescoping relation, and means to secure the link 25 and door closer arm 27. together in adjusted position against any relative movement. The upper and lower edges of the link 25 are provided with beveled portions 48, preferably spaced from each other so that one beveled portion 49 is located at or near the end of the link25 and another beveled portion 50 at a point just within the outer limit of the door closer arm 27 when the link 25 is in a normal position in the groove 47, with the end of the link spaced slightly from the end wall 51 of the-groove 47. Suitable bolts 52 extend transversely 'tln 'oughthe door closer arm 27, and these bolts 52 have inclined heads 53 countersunk within outer'recesses 54:, so that opposite portions of the inclined heads 53 will engage the beveled portions 49 and 50' and the walls of the recesses 54, respectively. The bolts 52 areprefcrably located about midway of the beveled portions when thelink 25 is in the normal position above referred to, so that a suitable range of adjustment of the link 25 toward and'from the door closer arm 27 is afforded, the beveled portions being slidable past the bolts for adjustment to a fine degree. in either direction. Nuts 55 and lock washers 56 are adapted to rigidly secure the link 25 to the door closer arm 27 in the desired adjusted position. At least oneof the bev eled portions 48 preferably has an end wall 57 adapted to engage the longitudinal side of one of the bolts 52 and prevent the link 25 from being entirely withdrawn from the door closer arm 27 when the nuts 55 are loosened. It is understood that the beveled portions may be otherwise located, as seen for example in Figure '7; and the recess 4-7 may be provided at either side of the door closer arm, or may take the form of an axial bore oropening in the door closer arm, and that the door closer arm and the link rigidly secured thereto constitute a. continuouslink slight clearance desirable at theouter end of the fast door'to prevent slamming.

It is to be understood that variations may be resorted to in the construction of the several parts, and portions of the improvements may be used without others.

What I claim is: I l. The combination with a door of means for operating said door, asupport for said 1 door operating means, and a unitary spacing device to rigidly connect said door operating means and said support and arranged to move said door operating means bodily toward and away from the support without disturbing said rigid connection.

2. The combination with door operating means having a back plate and a support therefor, of a line adjustment device to bodily move said door operating means toward and away from said support, said de vice having screw threaded bearii'igs in both said back plate and said support.

3; As an article of manufacture, door operating mechanism, a support for said mechanism, an oppositely screw threaded fine adjustment device connecting said door operating mechanism and said support, and means to rotate said device to bodily move said door operating mechanism relative to said support.

4. As an article of manufacture, door operating mechanism including a back plate, a wall plate connected to said back plate, and a connecting screw device for said back plate and wall plate. said device having oppositely threaded portions arranged to vary the position of said back plate relative to said wall plate through a continuous range of adjusted positions without disturbance of their operative relationship.

5. As an article of manufacture, door operating mechanism including a back plate pivoted thereto, a wall plate, a double ended oppositely threaded screw connecting said back plate and said wall plate, a door closer secured to said wall late, said screw rotatable to vary the position of said back plate relative to said wall plate independently of said door closer.

(i. As an article of manufacture, link mechanism for operating sliding doors, a back plate connected to said link mechanism, a wall plate, a door closer mounted on said wall plate and operatively associated with said link mechanism, an oppositely threaded fine fltljllSl'lTlGllt screw connecting said back plate and said wall plate. said screw having an angular portion for its rotation to move said back plate gradually toward and away from said wall plate.

'7. As an article of manufacture, link mechanism for operating tast and slow doors, a back plate connected to said link mechanism, a rigid support. a door closer pivotally mounted on said support and operatively associated with said link mechanism, and a device having oppositely screw threaded portions with bearings in said back plate and support respectively and said screw having means for rotation to move said back plate toward and away from said support and tilt said door closer on its pivotal mounting.

8. As an article of manufacture, link mechanism for operating a sliding door, a rigid support for said link mechanism, and means rotatable in said support to move said link mechanism toward and from said support.

9. As an article of manufacture, link mechanism for operating fast and slow sliding doors. a support for said link mechanism, and adjustable means connecting said link mechanism and said support, said means including a bodily rotatable device having a screw threaded bearing in said support.

1.0.As an article of manufacture, link mechanism for operating a sliding door, a. support for said link mechanism, and means connecting said link mechanism and support, said means including a device having oppositely screw threaded portions rotatable in art of said link mechanism and in said support respectively.

ll. As an article oi manufacture, link mechanism for operating a sliding door, a support for said link mechanism, a door closer operatively associated with said link mechanism having a pivotal mounting secured directly to said support, and means including a member having a screw threaded bearing in said support to secure the link mechanism to said support, said member bodily rotatable to adjust said link mechanism toward and away from said support.

1?..As an article of manufacture, link mechanism for operating a sliding door, a back plate for said link mechanism, a rigid support for said link mechanism, and means to connect said link mechanism and said support. said means including unitary devices each screw threaded in both said back plate and said support to bodily move said link mechanism toward and away from said support in different positions of adjustment.

13. A door mechanism comprising in combination, fast and slow doors, link mechanism to operate said doors, a back plate for said link mechanism, a rigid support, and a plurality of bolts having differently directed screw threaded portions connecting said back plate and rigid support, said bolts manipulable to gradually move said back plate and link mechanism toward and away from said support to adjust the length of travel of said doors relative to said support.

14. A door mechanism comprising in combination, fast and slow doors, link mechanism to operate said doors, a rigid support for said link mechanism, and a plurality of members connecting said link mechanism and said support to finely adjust the length of travel of said doors relative to said support, one of said members having oppositely threaded portions movable in said support and link mechanism respectively.

15. A door mechanism comprising in combination, a door, a plurality of links to operate said door, a support for said links, said links connected one to another and to said door, means to finely adjust said connected links relative to said support to alter the length of travel of the door, and fine adjustment means to lengthen andshorten one of said links and maintain its rigidity.

16. A door mechanism comprising in combination, a door, a plurality of links to operate said door, said links operatively connected one to another and one of said links connected to said door, a door closer arm connected to one of said links, a door closer operatively connected to said arm, a support for said links, means to finely adjust the effective length of said links and hence the travel of said door, and means rigidly associated with said doorrcloser arm and the link connected thereto to adjust the length of said last named link.

17. In a door mechanism, in combination, a plurality of interconnected links, a door closer arm, a support, a door closer operatively connected to said door closer arm, one of said links connected to said door closer arm and including provision for rigid attachment to said arm in different positions of adjustment.

18. In a door mechanism, in combination With a door, a plurality of opcratively asso ciated links, at least one of which is operatively connected to said door, a support for said links, an arm to connect one of said links with said support, means on said arm said links in difi'erent positions of length adjustment of said last named link, said means including a fastening device on said arm, said device including a part to simultaneously engage a portion of said arm and a portion of said last named link.

20. In a door mechanism, in combination, a plurality of links operatively associable with a door, a support, an arm to connect said links to said support, and means to alter the etfectivelength of one of said links, said means including a recess in said arm to re ceive said last named link, said arm and said last named link having oppositely beveled portions, and a fastening device to engage both said beveled portions of said arm and link to rigidly secure said arm and link together in a selected position of adjustment.

In testimony whereof, I have signed this specification.

STEWART H. HEMPHILL. 

